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Nightjar said:
Our Engel 60L combo has been purring along for past 10 years, can't fault it. And will bore you again about "Old "yellow" 39L 1983.
Nothing would convince me to buy anything but Engel, the only two fridges I've ever owned apart from the 3 way in the van.
Wouldn't fit a compressor fridge in the van, SWHTBO can hear a mouse fart through the night so she would wake very grumpy.
Click to expand...

What is the difference in power draw between the 60L and the 39L, And what are you using to keep your Batteries charged to cope with the power needed to keep them Fed along with your other power requirements, ??
 
RR, I don't really know, but imagine the 39L draws more because we use it as a freezer. The 110AH deep cycle battery gets charged by vehicle while in motion. 64Watt + portable twin 100 Watt solars in series via Anderson plug when stationary. If there has been any cloud, when we get back to our van in the evening I run the genny for about one hour with 40amp battery charger connected to the 110ah and connected to van which has inbuilt battery charger connected permanently to the vans 2110 AH batteries.
This has worked perfectly for past 12 years. Batteries renewed once.
 
Nightjar said:
RR, I don't really know, but imagine the 39L draws more because we use it as a freezer. The 110AH deep cycle battery gets charged by vehicle while in motion. 64Watt + portable twin 100 Watt solars in series via Anderson plug when stationary. If there has been any cloud, when we get back to our van in the evening I run the genny for about one hour with 40amp battery charger connected to the 110ah and connected to van which has inbuilt battery charger connected permanently to the vans 2110 AH batteries.
This has worked perfectly for past 12 years. Batteries renewed once.
Click to expand...

Thanks NJ, I might have to use the smaller one as a freezer as you have, They all use very little power in fridge mode but once you take them down to -10 and below they start to chew more power,

I am trying to work out which two fridges to use because Sunlight Is my biggest Issue, I have 2 portable 120w Panels but due to the short Sun Peak hours over here I might have to run 2 X 150 in parallel which will give me about 16+ Amps on a good day and use a 40A charger every 3 to 5 days, I am using 2 X 110Ah batteries but getting the power back in to them is the biggest problem due to the slow way they absorb the Charge So I might have to invest in to a pair of Lead Crystal Batteries because I get between 4 to 6 hours of good sun light per day on average,

The bigger fridges can chew anything from 20Ah to 40+Ah when in freezer mode depending on how it' is set and the Ambient Temp, So The weather is the kill factor for me, One good thing is my Lithium packs that will charge via the Cigar socket while driving but once stopped is another matter,

Thanks again NJ.
 
RR,
The 39L Engel runs continuously if dialed to maximum so I back it off slightly so it cycles but it still maintains -12C. On the WA goldfields the nights during winter usually get down to 0C overnight so this helps to reduce running time. We carry enough food for a month away from the grid. The 39L carries 2 weeks of frozen meat, when it's empty it is shutdown. Keeping the battery topped is now simple. Genny rarely used. The remaining two weeks we live out of the 60L combo and the caravan 3way upright fridge/freezer, which runs soley on gas when camped. We use 2 9kg bottles over the month.
GPZ/SDC Detectors, Garmin Rinos, headlamps are charged daily from ute 110AH.
Maybe your problem with limited sunshine would be eased if you "seriesed" your panels? Don't quote me but I think parallel panels produce approx 20v and series 30v same amperage but less sunshine required. Had to buy a regulator (mttp???) to handle extra volts. The single panel permanently on vehicle charges through the lesser regulator (WMA????)
You probably realise I don't bother with details, if it works then am happy with that.
No trips this season total knee replacement has put that on hold.
Good luck with your set up. Put one together and don't fiddle. :lol: ;) Remember, "If it's not broken don't change it!" Cheers from down under.
 
Cool, So does -12 still keep everything frozen when it's Hot outside ?

I will give the 47L a go first and see how long the 2 X 110Ah last and take the little 18L along for the ride, Seeing as we can go out now So I will fit and wire up the batteries and load it all up and clear off for a couple of days, I fitted Andersons to every thing so I can swap things around, I even made up leads with them to fit the Victron MTTP controller so I can bypass the panels and run them direct to the lithium packs Plus the fold out panels came with PWM controllers if I need em

I might try and run the 78L and see how it goes, I ran it indoors set to 3* and it chewed about 17Ah in 24 hours and the Ambient temp was 23 to 24*c During the day and the night so it never got a chance to run in the cool of the evening or through the night,

I might take the Genny and the 38A charger along just in case. I will give it a go and see what happens

Thanks NJ,
 
RR, All the meat keeps frozen day and night, we have never suffered food poisoning so all must be good.
Yes, Victron MTTP & PWM (got one letter right?)
Don't record or even know or care how to see what Ah's are used.
When I set it all up I think there was a means of setting a minimum battery level (11.75V). As already mentioned all the frozen kept frozen and the milk in the fridge has never gone off.
We did have a problem when we purchased the caravan. They wired the plug to the van to include one wire dedicated to the two van batteries from the vehicle alternator.
Have always run the two Engels and van fridge on 240V at home for at least 24hours before setting off. During the first trip back in 2008 the wireless thermometer in the ute showed the van fridge temperature slowly climbing after several hours on the road. We pulled up in roadside parking for the night (we break the 12hour trip into two) and immediately swapped the van fridge onto gas, by morning temperature back to normal 3C (fridge compartment)
After this first trip I ran two welding cables from the ute to an Anderson plug and the same to the van batteries. Positioned a inline fuse either end for safety sake.
From that day on no further on the road fridge temperature problems. (Obviously the original wiring had a severe voltage drop over the distance)

Cheers
 
FYI - Food safety guidelines give a temp range of zero to +5C for "high risk food" storage i.e. poultry dairy etc. This is to prevent bacteria from multiplying.

Lower temps including freezing do not necessarily destroy bacteria, that happens when you cook food at temps above 60C.

General temp range for frozen food storage is -10 to -20C. The lower the temp the longer food can last.

I'm setting the Brass Monkey to -10 even though it can get down to -20 mainly because it uses less power.
 
Nightjar said:
RR, All the meat keeps frozen day and night, we have never suffered food poisoning so all must be good.
Yes, Victron MTTP & PWM (got one letter right?)
Don't record or even know or care how to see what Ah's are used.
When I set it all up I think there was a means of setting a minimum battery level (11.75V). As already mentioned all the frozen kept frozen and the milk in the fridge has never gone off.
We did have a problem when we purchased the caravan. They wired the plug to the van to include one wire dedicated to the two van batteries from the vehicle alternator.
Have always run the two Engels and van fridge on 240V at home for at least 24hours before setting off. During the first trip back in 2008 the wireless thermometer in the ute showed the van fridge temperature slowly climbing after several hours on the road. We pulled up in roadside parking for the night (we break the 12hour trip into two) and immediately swapped the van fridge onto gas, by morning temperature back to normal 3C (fridge compartment)
After this first trip I ran two welding cables from the ute to an Anderson plug and the same to the van batteries. Positioned a inline fuse either end for safety sake.
From that day on no further on the road fridge temperature problems. (Obviously the original wiring had a severe voltage drop over the distance)

Cheers
Click to expand...

Due to the lack of sunshine I will have to run which ever fridge I use as a freezer with it's own Battery setup and solar panel because I can't see any other way around it, One Idea I have had is to hinge 2 of the 150w panels in series because then I can get in excess of 10Ah and 4 hours should put enough power back in,

The bigger 78L does not use much more Ah than the smaller 47L, On average there is a 1 to 3A difference between the two in fridge mode, Another brain wave I've had is before I go anywhere is to Run them at -18*c the day before plugged in to the mains power so they will drop down to around -19/-20 or more and when I'm about to head off set the fridge/freezer to -12*c then it won't power up for 8 to 10 hours or more, I tried that the other day and it took nearly 14 hours before it got warm enough to switch back on again.

For now I am going to use 2 of the 110Ah batteries, According to their specs I can use a maximum of 154Ah @70% although 50% would be better which is still going to give me 4 days of run time in freezer mode, Plus what ever the solar can put back, And when ever I go to a powered site or have the chance I can also use the Genny to top off the Batteries,
 
Got back today from VIC, only just :) However, before that; the 4x4 Solar setup to run the Engel worked very well, had it running non stop for 5+ weeks. I also used the Brass Monkey as a freezer, but not every day. About once every 10 days I went to shop for food, turning it on at camp. I left it on 2-3 days until space was available in the van freezer, then turned it off and again no prob.

I never saw battery volts go below 12.5 V under load. Now to the early return.......

I originally intended to return to S.A. in September. I found out last Friday night that the S.A.-VIC border will close this Tuesday at midnight, including to S.A. residents. I filled in a permit request Saturday morning and also rang S.A. health and was advised to go to the border anyway as the permit may not get approved in time. It would be up to the discretion of the Police Officer at the Border checkpoint. I got there at 0600 this morning, one army guy and one police woman, who was very nice and let me through. I'm now isolating for 2 weeks in the driveway (caravan). During my chat with her, she said someone that is polite, attentive and willing to do the right thing always gets a break when possible. Reading between the lines, I think she's had a few not so polite people previously.

I checked my email an hour ago, my permit request was refused, so glad I took the advice from the phone call. Some I spoke to, said the state border might not reopen till much later this year.

Disappointed cutting my prospecting trip, yes. Relieved that I'm home and not stuck 600 kms away indefinitely, absolutely.

BTW 36 nuggies for 4.3 gr. Happy with that.
 
I should point out that most days were cold to "bloody cold" and quite a few heavy overcast. I also drove most days (Redarc charging) sometimes 50 km other times 5 km.
Fridges were not working hard :)
 
Are we being conned, is a DC DC charger necessary?

If we test the voltage output from our vehicle's alternator we may discover it is a waste of 100's of $$$'s. If your check reveals your alternator is putting out 13.6-13.7 Volts, purchasing and fitting a DC/DC charger would actually limit the charge rate too your auxiliary battery/batteries.
Have had 12+ years relying on the alternator while travelling and solar while camped up. The caravan is on its second set of deep cycles the first purchased in 2008.
My feeling it is an expensive, unnecessary "toy for boys?"

Can someone agree or disagree with this?
 
I agree with that Nightjar. Had DC DC in my last vehicle and just top up battery from alternator while travelling in this one with 200w of solar panel on the roof for when I'm camped up. this is how Telstra had the batteries in back set up so I've left it as is. I recon if it needed a DC DC telstra would have put it in as they aren't shy to set there service vehicles up if need be this one came with a 1000w inverter so I can take the electric toothbrush & razor ha ha
 
Certainly food for thought.
I'm as much of an auto electrician as I am a beauty queen but I could never see why either.

My car battery is connected via a positive and negative cable so why can't I just connect a second battery piggy backed via another positive and negative cable?
I have always done just for years with no ill effect.
 
madtuna said:
My car battery is connected via a positive and negative cable so why can't I just connect a second battery piggy backed via another positive and negative cable?
I have always done just for years with no ill effect.
Click to expand...

The vehicle will run the batteries just fine but when the voltage drops the batteries will never become fully charged because the alternator is set up to put out 100% of it's power for a very short time and then it switches to top up mode, Because an Alternator is not a Charger It is a maintainer, designed to top up batteries that are in a full state of charge to a level that they function for everyday use, If your batteries end up dead flat you will burn out the Alternator,

https://www.knowyourparts.com/technical-resources/starting-and-charging/alternator-qa/
 
Nightjar said:
Are we being conned, is a DC DC charger necessary?

If we test the voltage output from our vehicle's alternator we may discover it is a waste of 100's of $$$'s. If your check reveals your alternator is putting out 13.6-13.7 Volts, purchasing and fitting a DC/DC charger would actually limit the charge rate too your auxiliary battery/batteries.
Have had 12+ years relying on the alternator while travelling and solar while camped up. The caravan is on its second set of deep cycles the first purchased in 2008.
My feeling it is an expensive, unnecessary "toy for boys?"

Can someone agree or disagree with this?
Click to expand...

Very good point NJ,ive never had a dcdc charger,im sure we all remember back in the day all ya fitted up for a dual system was the old solenoid just to isolate them while parked up,simple but worked ok.....
What does the dcdc charger actually do ?
 
Goldchaser1 said:
Nightjar said:
Are we being conned, is a DC DC charger necessary?

If we test the voltage output from our vehicle's alternator we may discover it is a waste of 100's of $$$'s. If your check reveals your alternator is putting out 13.6-13.7 Volts, purchasing and fitting a DC/DC charger would actually limit the charge rate too your auxiliary battery/batteries.
Have had 12+ years relying on the alternator while travelling and solar while camped up. The caravan is on its second set of deep cycles the first purchased in 2008.
My feeling it is an expensive, unnecessary "toy for boys?"

Can someone agree or disagree with this?
Click to expand...

Very good point NJ,ive never had a dcdc charger,im sure we all remember back in the day all ya fitted up for a dual system was the old solenoid just to isolate them while parked up,simple but worked ok.....
What does the dcdc charger actually do ?
Click to expand...

In simple terms a DC to DC Charger is just a 12v powered battery charger that runs off 12v power supplied by a 12v battery which gets it's power from the Alternator, It's basically the same as a 240v Smart Charger, where as the Alternator is just a maintainer.
 
Nightjar said:
Are we being conned, is a DC DC charger necessary?

If we test the voltage output from our vehicle's alternator we may discover it is a waste of 100's of $$$'s. If your check reveals your alternator is putting out 13.6-13.7 Volts, purchasing and fitting a DC/DC charger would actually limit the charge rate too your auxiliary battery/batteries.
Have had 12+ years relying on the alternator while travelling and solar while camped up. The caravan is on its second set of deep cycles the first purchased in 2008.
My feeling it is an expensive, unnecessary "toy for boys?"

Can someone agree or disagree with this?
Click to expand...
Modern 4wds now come with a smart alternator that won't put out a high enough voltage to fully charge an aux battery. A DC DC charger will put load on the alternator to achieve the correct voltage output & fully charge a variety of battery types.
Different battery types also require different charging profiles for optimal lifespan & good DC DC chargers can be changed to suit i.e. many people now use lithium etc. for aux batteries. If using Lithium etc. then DC DC charger will be the only way of charging via alternator.
Good ones also have MPPT regulators inbuilt for your solar panels & allow charging using solar + alternator simultaneously for even quicker full charges.
If I was fitting a dual battery/solar system to a modern vehicle I'd go the extra expense for one.
As a minimum I'd have some type of smart isolator or voltage sensing relay regardless.
 

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